Month: October 2016

Hello world, once again we meet after a long and overdue hiatus, I returned to my home country nearly a month ago and I have been busy adjusting back to my home country of Nigeria and sorting out tons of personal stuff. However during my hiatus, I completed two short stories that I had been working on and will be uploading them soon. I intend to return to my former schedule of movie news and reviews. Today I will be talking about some recent movie news that I came across this week. My movie reviews will come much later. I also intend to still cover recently released movie trailers as well as future projects yet to be announced. Without any further ado, I would like to jump into today’s news, I will be talking about solid and cohesive plans for an upcoming film adaptation of a beloved cinematic video game, departure of a director from a planned superhero sequel and news of a new sci-fi movie that is also conveniently part of a bigger universe.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY

After nearly a decade of waiting and anticipating, Deadline announced that Sony Pictures as decided to proceed with the production of an Uncharted movie. It was reported that Shawn Levy(Real Steel, Stranger Things) will be set to direct the film, Joe Carnahan(Smoking Aces, The A-Team) wrote the script but will not be directing the picture as he is heavily involved in the production of Bad Boys For Life, the upcoming third film in the Bad Boys franchise. Uncharted is a Playstation exclusive video game about a witty and adventurous treasure hunter named Nathan Drake who searches for lost relics, shoots bad guys and solves puzzles in a very reminiscent style of Indiana Jones. Nathan Fillion(Firefly, Castle) has been the fan favorite over the years ever since the rumors started. There had also been a report that stated that David O. Russell, of The Silver Linings Playbook fame was set to direct with Bradley Cooper in the lead role as Nathan Drake and Robert De Niro as the charming, chain smoking and aging silver haired Sully. That was good casting in my opinion but in light of this recent news, I have a fan casting of mine for the three pivotal roles, Jake Gyllenhaal or Chris Pratt for Nathan Drake, Bruce Campbell or Ed Harris for Sully and Amy Adams or Rosamund Pike for the blonde and ambitious Elena Fisher. What are your choices?

Uncharted is among my top three favorite game franchises of all time along with Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect, the former already set to be released at the end of December. Video game movies are yet to strike the proverbial gold unlike comic book movies did years ago, but a lot of future projects are showing promise. Warcraft was a decent video game movie for me, not deplorable but decent, a step forward regardless. There are other future video game movies planned like Splinter Cell and The Last of Us. Uncharted has the potential to be the ultimate cinema experience, the video game itself is epic and cinematic beyond scale as most of the story lines and action set pieces were influenced by Hollywood blockbuster movies. Fingers crossed for a perfectly executed Uncharted movie in the near future.

”Are those the claws of a movie studio I see approaching?”

DEADPOOL TOO!!!

Deadpool was a movie that acted as a double edged sword which cuts both ways, it was either going to be very good or very bad with little room for a gray area. Thankfully it was a critical and commercial success with a sequel green lit way before the first movie was officially released. It took the combined effort of Ryan Reynolds, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and first time director Tim Miller to churn out the comedic masterpiece. Subsequently a new report as stated the unfortunate departure of Tim Miller from directing the sequel due to creative differences between him and Ryan Reynolds concerning budgetary issues and the casting for Cable.

As disheartening as this sound, it is still no cause for alarm, as it isn’t uncommon for certain crew members to leave during a movie production, what usually matters is the cause of their departure. In this case it seems as though they separated on an amicable note. The same can be said for the superhero heist movie Ant Man after Edgar Wright also left the production due to creative differences, before the directorial role was passed on to Peyton Reed(Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) who still delivered a superb movie. Despite the exit of Tim Miller, David Leitch(John Wick) has been announced as the potential next pick. His work on John Wick was flawless and engaging and very fitting of the Deadpool style. So far the role of Cable hasn’t been fully confirmed yet, although Kyle Chandler(Friday Night Lights, Bloodline) is the current favored pick, he is a fantastic actor but not personally my pick for Cable. I would prefer Ron Perlman(Hellboy), Christopher Meloni(Law and Order: SVU, Man of Steel) or Stephen Lang(Avatar, Don’t Breathe). What are your thoughts on Deadpool 2 and who would you cast as Cable?

”Fox better not mess up my sequel or else I’m sewing my mouth shut”

THE THIRD LEAFED CLOVER

In 2008, a found footage movie was released, this was a cause for concern as the gimmick was already getting stale and tiresome, but surprisingly enough, this particular movie was more than just a hackneyed gimmick. Cloverfield was a pleasant surprise upon its release, the sci-fi found footage survival film was able to invoke Kaiju themes as well as resonate a post apocalyptic vibe. The movie was a financial and critical success. Cut to seven years later, and a movie titled 10 Cloverfield Lane directed by first time director Dan Trachtenberg found its way to the silver screens. Another amazing surprise, as this movie though a psychological thriller turned out to be a spiritual successor to the first Cloverfield movie.

According to the Wrap, an upcoming sci-fi movie titled God Particle, which is to be an anthology set in the Cloververse(which is what the Cloverfield universe is called) is slated for release in 2017. The story follows a group of astronauts who make a terrifying discovery that challenges their perception of reality itself. The film was shot under the radar, similarly to 10 Cloverfield Lane, but was recently confirmed to be part of the Cloververse. It was also announced that J.J. Abrams plans to release a Cloververse movie every year(a decision I personally find too risky as it can lead to cinematic fatigue). God Particle is directed by Julius Onah(The Girl is in Trouble) and features David Oyelowo(Selma), Gugu Mbatha-Raw(Beyond The Lights) and many other talented actors in the lead roles. What do you think about an annual Cloververse movie? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

”This selfie better trend enough to get me a sequel”

This is all the news for today and I hope to bring more on a regular basis. Please feel free to air your opinions down below. I will be uploading more of my short stories sometime this week and concluding the Godfall story as well. Till next time. Szia.